traveling to the motherland

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Oh yeah, and how important is it to know Japanese. I've heard Tokyo is super gaijin town and is pretty easy to navigate.
I still want to learn some Japanese to not be a rude tourist, but would like to hear opinions on how much you should know to navigate the city would be helpful.

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Any good craft stores to check out? Besides the Daiso craft section. Stationary stores could be good as well

>>9108035
I recently went to Japan with almost zero language skills and you absolutely don't need any japanese. Everything is in english (trains, street names, maps) and at train stations and big shopping malls you find english speaking staff if you need to ask for directions. Also the staff in restaurants and shops can speak the necessary sentences in english. A few words like Arigatou gozaimasu, sumimasen, ikura desu ka are helpful and polite, otherwise you don't have to worry (thought I really regretted not speaking japanese a little better, I suggest you if you are motivated, definitely learn as much as possible before your trip). The same also counts for Kyoto, Osaka and Nara

>>9108037
Definitely Tokyu Hands for stationary and similar shit (they have like everything). The one in Shinjuku is huge.

I also visited Okadaya in Shinjuku, they have a lot of crafting materials but quite expensive. I also wrote down Yoshida Shoji in Asakusa, but I didn't came around to visit it.

>>9108049

Thank you for the info anon !
How was your trip in general? Did you get to do any lolita things? Visit closet child or cute cafes? I really want to visit the qpot cafe and kawaii monster cafe

On the cafe note, how annoying is it to eat in Japan with a restricted diet? I'm a little scared but not going to worry too much if I accidentally eat something I'm not supposed to. I'm a vegetarian so I can generally find things to eat, but there could be hidden things in dishes like meat stocks or fish sauce. I will def have to research more which dishes will be OK for me to eat

>>9108079
I'll expand more, different anon tho, but I recently went for two weeks a month ago (exclusively to Tokyo to shop as a Lolita/fashion and visit as manycute cafes as possible)and lived there a year ago. BUT how strict are you with your diet? ALOT of places are not vegan or often vegetarian friendly. The friend I went with had to put up with eating fish/fish based often. I personally only known of crayon house (super close to qpot cafe) that has vegan buffet nights on Mondays and vegetarian options the other nights. Although it's quite pricy. I would suggest looking up jvloggers who Eat vegan/vegetarian such as Taylor r. I would also look at menus online as often as possible. When it comes to cute cafes you're pretty out of luck though. If you don't like salmon, you may just want to eat dinner else where and just have a drink or dessert at the cafes.

I'll be travelling to Tokyo and Osaka for a few days, does anyone have any hotel recommendations? If anyone has had experience staying at a ryokan with onsens attached I'd also love to hear about that.

>>9108099

Thank you. Luckily I'm not vegan but only vegetarian. Desserts are usually safe for me so I'm sure I'll be eating a lot of sweets at cafes.
Definitely something I have to research more into. Thank you for the suggestions though !

>>9108079
You're probably better off going to the supermarket or only eating baked goods/sweets if you are strict about being vegetarian. You won't be able to ask if you don't speak Japanese and so much stuff is fish and meat based that even vegetable dishes are likely to contain meat-based products.

So just to add, asking to exclude ingredients Isn't really common: generally you just avoid ordering the item but if it's an allergy, I would mention it. A Japanese friend is allergic to shrimp and often can't eat at practically any Japanese restaurant because of It. It's probably obvious but all instant noodles have shrimp or some kind of fish or meat (in most cases both) base. He was only able to eat the tomato instant soup if he was to get a quick Instant meal from konbini. If you want onigiri I think you are limited to salt, wakekame and Ume flavored

>>9108175

Thank you for clarifying this. I've heard before that they dont remove ingredients from a dish. I hope that I wont look like an asshat when I go to Japan, I want to be as polite as possible.

>only eating sweets
lmao I'm going to die.

>>9108239
I saw recently someone asked to order a salad without cheese and they did it. Normally one would just order something else but I've heard Japan has been trying to become more acomodating with allergies. But likely not as much as American is

>>9108248
Another experience
Only vegetable item on menu was salad with ham. All they had to do was not put slices of ham on it. The server said they couldn't do it.

>>9108035
What >>9108049 said is spot on, you're pretty much set as long as you can speak English. I went further out to Hiroshima/Miyajima, and to less visited places like the alps west of Tokyo (Takayama, Kanazawa, Matsumoto, etc) - there were signs everywhere in English and most if not all the people I spoke with understood enough english to help me. That being said, it really helps to be able to read hiragana and katakana, especially for menus. Basic weeb vocabulary will let you order off the Japanese menu if there are no English ones available. I found this very convenient since I could just walk into any restaurant that looked appealing. I'm not a picky eater though so I was OK if I ordered a mystery curry and it arrived spicy and with shrimp. YMMV.

>>9108037
>>9108050
Tokyu Hands is pretty pricey. There are paper stores dotted here and there where you can pick up cute stationery for cheap. Also pop into art supply stores as well, I noticed stationery sections in the ones I visited. I can't remember if Don Quijote had stationery but they're worth checking out since their stuff is on the cheaper side anyway.

>>9108079
>cute cafes
Does Swallowtail count? I wasn't keen on the idea of maid/butler cafes but I decided to try it out anyway and I am surprised by how much I enjoyed the experience. Tea and snacks are legit good. Bring a book because they don't let you have your phone out.

>>9108105
Pretty much all ryokan have onsen attached - do you mean like an outdoor onsen? I stayed at 2 ryokan with indoor onsen and they were quite nice but you really need to be OK with basically lazing around indoors or else the experience is kinda wasted IMO.

>>9108105
Iya onsen was some good shit. A bit far.
http://www.iyaonsen.co.jp/english/

>>9108079
You're welcome. Yes I did tons of Lolita shopping. I definitely recommend Closed Child Harajuku + Shinjuku, if you are in Osaka definitely visit their CC + Maiden Clothing too. CC Ikebukuro is okay, not a must. Maiden Clothing Tokyo is also not a must (extremely small). Disney Store actually has some cute jewellery (not only for children). Then of course you have to visit Laforet and Mauri Annex in Shinjuku. And walking down Takeshita Dori is also a must (I don't know if you wear only brand, but for shoes/wigs it is actually worth visiting Bodyline at Takeshita Dori). And for a japanese Crêpe I recommend Angel Crêpes there, and there is also a Purikura shop with a Barbie machine, this is really cute if you wear Lolita.

For Gyaru clothes (to find cute blouses / accessories for your Lolita) I also recommend Shibuya 109, Lumine Est / Lumine 2 Shinjuku, MyLord Shinjuku.

There are also several Alice in Wonderland themed restaurants, and a Vampire café, thought I didn't visited any of them. But Kawaii Monster Café is nice.

>>9108319
>Swallowtail

Never heard of that place ! Looks very fancy.
I'm surprisingly not too interested in maid/butler cafe. Maybe I'll go to one to say I did, but thats a level of weeby-ness I find cringe. Cat cafes also seem very cute and if I ever get the chance I'd love to visit the bird cafe in or near Kobe (I forget where.) But some of the birds from Hatoful Boyfriend are in there and I need to meet them ASAP.
>I hope the birds are still alive

>>9108037
Nippori textile town is supposed to be pretty amazing. I didn't get the chance to go when I went.

>>9108079
Q-Pot cafe was amazing. The food is so delicious. Pop into the store across the street too to see all the pretty accessories.

Kawaii Monster Cafe was also fun. The food was ok, but the environment is really cool.

Pom Pom Purin Cafe had really great drinks and desserts and is really cute. It was probably my favourite.

Milky Way Cafe has really tasty space and astrology themed parfait and drinks in Ikebukuro.

There is also a chain of Alice in Wonderland themed restaurants with cool decor. They have order minimums, but the desserts we had there were good, especially the honey toast.

The restaurant at the Ghibli museum is also incredibly cute.

If you want to visit a cat cafe, Temari No Ouchi is like a fairy tail, and the cats seemed happy with lots of space and climbing spots.

>>9108049
You say train stations have English. I seen a pictures and a video of those machines where you buy a ticket but the machine is in Japanese, is there any option for English? Also there tends to be a lot of different machines and iPads you use at restaurants and elsewhere, do those have an English option too?

>>9108079
Try to find some vegetarian/vegans living there and try to make friends. The Buddhist community is pretty big and there's a lot of vegans and vegan places to eat, but it's not really immediate knowledge to foreigners coming to travel.

>>9108079
>>9108099
As a vegan who lived in Japan for awhile, I just want to say it's very easy to eat vegan in Tokyo and other big cities. You just can't expect non-vegan restaurants to have anything you can eat. There are tons of amazing vegan and macrobiotic restaurants and bakeries in Tokyo though.

>>9108774
Seconding Q-Pot. The decor alone is worth it!

It's going to sound weeby of me, but any cross-dressing cafes that are worth it? I went to Bar Prince (dansou) and it was kind of neat.

>>9108319
I meant an outdoor onsen, yes. Indoors seems like a waste since we're only in Osaka for two days.

>>9108322
Thanks for the link!

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>>9108774
>Temari No Ouchi

WHAT THE DUCK this is the cutest thing ever. I'm dying looking at these photos of the cafe. Thank you for all the recommendations anon !

>>9108799
If you are traveling in Tokyo, you just fill up a Passmo or Suica at one of the machines. It has a big English button. If you are booking JR train travel around the country, even the smaller destinations have a person you go talk to and they usually speak English. If for some reason they don't, there should be a calendar nearby and you can point to a date you want to book tickets for and state the city name. Or you can write some Japanese phrases down like

I'd like to go to Asakusa now.
Ima wa Asakusa ni iki tai.

I've been to Japan a couple of times and have traveled to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and Kobe. You can get by traveling the major cities by buying a pocket wifi or a prepaid data plan, and using Google Translate in conjunction with Google Maps to help you get by.

The following are some useful phrases:
Sumimasen eigo ga wakarimasen ka? (translation: excuse me, do you understand English?)
Sumimasen (translation: excuse me or sorry)
Gomenasai (translation: sorry)
Konnichiwa (translation: hello)
Arigatou (translation: thank you)
Watashi wa Kanada jin (translation: I’m Canadian)
Kore wa doko desu-ka? (translation: where is this?)
Kore wa ikura desu-ka? (translation: how much is this?)
Shashin o tottemo ii desu-ka? (translation: is it alright to take a picture?)
Daijoubo (translation: alright or ok)
Daijoubo desu-ka? (translation: are you alright?)
Iie daijoubo (translation: no, it’s alright)

>>9108758
Make sure to get a reservation. They don't do walk-ins.

>>9108758
>Swallowtail
I wasn't interested in it either but my friend was desperate to go. I was worried about the weeb/cringe level but it was a lovely experience. The food was good and the atmosphere was really enjoyable.

>>9108079
I was there a year ago, and am planning on going again this fall. Last time, I think I made the mistake of not planning out where places to eat in locations I was going to visit, because finding a location that will serve vegetarian on the fly is kind of difficult. However, there are a log of options, especially since it's kind of trendy to eat vegetarian.

I suggest using the Happy Cow app to find places to eat if you're just looking for somewhere nearby. As for cute themed cafes, I have the suspicion that since they're used to tourists it's easier for them to understand what you want when you ask for vegetarian. I checked out the Monster Cafe and Vampire Cafe menus and they both seemed to have pretty safe options.

Since I didn't do lots of research last time, I ended up eating at Moss Burger and the convenience store a lot, which are both good options if you're trying to save money on food. If you're getting a salad from the convenience store, however, watch out for meat in the dressing. From Moss Burger, I just got this burger than had rice for patties and vegetables inside. I think they also have soy burgers. If you're eating pastries and bread, watch out for if they use lard to bake it.

Here are some restaurants I've saved by location:
Akihabara
-Chabuton is a place with veggie ramen. It's inside a mall that also has electronics and video games, so it's a fun place to check out in general.

Shibuya
-Sushi Nova is a conveyor belt sushi place with non-fish (think hams and stuff) sushi, but also has veggie sushi. I haven't tried it out but it seems like an interesting concept.
-Jinnan is a ramen place with vegan ramen

Chiyoda
T's Tan Tan has AMAZING vegan ramen. It's seriously amazing. Completely worth the trip since we didn't go shopping in the area or anything. The restaurant is in the train station. Seriously, go to this restaurant. The new Bandai make up store is also in this train station so you can visit it at the same time.

Cont

>>9109298
Ikebukuro
-AIN SOPH. Soar has vegan burgers and stuff. The AIN SOPH restaurants seems to be a pretty common suggestion for vegan food, and there's two other branches in the city but they're kind of higher price points and this one's good for if you're just shopping around and need a quick meal.
-There's a Coco Ichibanya here, and you can also look for other locations in the city. They recently introduced a completely vegetarian roux so depending on the location you might be able to get veggie curry.

Shinjuku
-Tahitian Noni Cafe. It seems like a health food cafe and they have meat options, but they look like they have a raw veggie sushi roll that looks pretty good
-Milk Land has boxed vegan bentos. It's only for lunchtime.

Also if you don't care that you're not getting the full Japanese experience, try out Indian and Middle Eastern options. They will usually be much more understanding about vegetarian food and they're pretty common in the city.

If you want to stay at a ryokan at all a lot of the time they will have a vegetarian option for the meal at the hotel, but sometimes it may include fish.

Hope that helps!

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>>9109298
>>9109301
>>9109298

I'm really surprised with how helpful seagulls have been with suggestions for veggie/vegan options. I guess there are more of us than I thought.
With all the info and replies I've gotten, I'm definitely going to be properly researching what I can eat and where to eat.
All your suggestions sound really delicious ! I definitely want to eat the veggie burgers and I'm pretty hyped for ramen. I have not had the chance to try ramen yet since I'm always scared it will have something I'm not supposed to eat in it. Ramen always looks so delicious though. Your reply was very helpful and I genuinely like hearing peoples recommendations ! Thank you anon

>>9109301

>not getting the full japanese experience

Thats okay. I'm going with my husband who is an extremely picky eater, doesnt like fish, mostly likes western food. He likes curries and East Indian food so I'm sure that info will make him happy haha.

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Anyone go to Priscilla or the other fancy wig places in Japan?

>>9109309
Heck yes. They even let you try on wigs before you buy them at Prisila. The staff also assisted with color matching to my natural hair.

How much would be a safe amount to budget? Fucking guides are like "I spent 200 USD for 30 days" and I ain't about that life

>>9109311

Yes! I was hoping to hear that the staff would assist. I would love a wig or wig piece from them but color matching over the computer seems like nonsense.

>>9109322
lmao I just came in this thread to ask this question. My trip would be all about shopping. I was just looking at how much I could bring back without tariffs ($800 per person, me and my partner).

And I think.... but is $1600 enough? Buying so much crap, I could probably mail some to myself via the post. I'd love to hear what others budget for themselves for their spending money. I'm talking strictly on goods, not food or hotels or whatever.

>>9109322
It depends on what you're doing and where you're staying. Details like which city, how long you're staying, what kind of shopping you'll be doing, what type of place you'll want to stay in are needed. My husband and I usually use ~5k usd for flights, nice hotel, fancy dinners, and very liberal shopping at brand stores and weeaboo shit for a week stay in Tokyo.

>>9109322
>200 USD for 30 days

Point me to their blog, anon, I want to know what they're doing that they're spending a mere 6-7USD per day. Generally speaking 6-7USD is like the price of one cheap meal, not three.

>>9109306
No problem! I've been planning out my trip for months so I'm really happy to share! I'm so excited to eat all that food

>>9109329
I budgeted $1000 for seven days and it barely lasted until the end of my trip. This included food, though, and I didn't buy that much clothing. So if you really do want to shop, bring a couple thousand for just that.

>>9109335
You could just live off of convenience store food and fast food the whole time if you want to ea as cheaply as possible.

This is porbably a really stupid question, but as closetchild has several floors, do you pay for your stuff on each floor? Or do you just pay at the end?

>>9109355
Yeah, you pay on each floor. They will have a register and counter on each floor so it'll seem pretty obvious when you see it.

>>9109354

I'd still like to see that blog anyway, though? Just to comb through it and see if they have any other money-saving tips.

>>9109309
I spend tons of money there. Ask for the a membership card, when I was there you got a 20% discount on your first purchase! (I guess they don't directly offer it to tourists but when I visited the shop the second time wearing a halfwig from them, they just gave it to me and even added the points from the halfwig on it)

>>9109322
Not counting airfare or our stay... I went for 10 days in Tokyo with 1 day at a spa and another half day spend hungover so let's say 8 and a half days purely to shop (we've been twice before so we didn't really go to any sight seeing) and I think I spent 2,500. That was literally buying whatever I wanted minus a few Big things (big plushies) because I didn't want to buy another suitcase but also we didn't go completely crazy in la foret because we Weren't fond of the prints that time of season.

>>9109367
>>9109335

Whoops, I was being sarcastic more than anything but this person managed to spend less than 3k in 90 days
https://thecupandtheroad.com/2016/07/14/freak-japan-travel-expenses-explained-10-tips-public-budget-sheet/

This person claims that you can get by with $50 USD a day
http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/how-to-turn-high-cost-japan-into-a-cheap-place-to-visit/

You can also check out /r/japantravel. This was more recent and made me think of it. She spent an average of ¥67 a day
https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/4sc50s/budget_breakdown_from_my_recent_trip/

Does anyone have tips for someone who wants to stay in Japan for 3-6 months but doesn't have a degree and isn't a native English speaker? I have about 3000 euro saved and I really need to get away from my shitty life for a while.

>>9109591
Just to clarify: I know I cam travel there for a few months with 3000 euro as I've read this thread, but I really want to learn something or gain work experience (any)

>>9109596
>I cam travel there for a few months with 3000 euro
More like a few weeks at most with that much.

>>9109591
You can volunteer for the WWOOF program. It's not paid work but you get free accommodation and food in exchange for your help. A lot of the listings I've noticed in Japan aren't for proper farms but with people who want to live more self-sufficiently so you can still end up in urban areas. It's something I'd like to try myself. You can do a few weeks in one place then move onto the next.

>>9108758
Maid/butler cafes are really not my thing either, but so many seagulls lauded it that I decided if I'm going to try one cringey cafe, it'd be at one that at least served good food (I'm a bit of a food snob).

The most cringey part honestly is right at the beginning. When they are ready for you to go in, you are ushered into a little enclosed, mirrored waiting area between the lobby and cafe with just your server and porter. They both bow very deeply to you, which I found very unsettling and resisting the instinct to bow back felt very impolite (I'm Korean so it's a knee-jerk reaction for me). I guess it was all the mirrors reflecting everything and that their focus is 100% on you that made it feel very intense for me. But it's very brief and you are shown to your table immediately after.

Service is attentive, the environment is very pleasant, the food is good (quality doesn't quite match the price imo but makes sense given the service and environment), and the tea very good. I ordered 2 pots of tea actually and would've liked to stay longer for more tea but they have a time limit unfortunately (90min IIRC).

tl;dr food, service, and atmosphere were good enough that I would pony up the cash to go back again.

>>9108799
You can switch languages in pretty much all ticket machines. In the rare occasion that you actually need to talk to someone, they will almost always know enough English to understand you. If not, try to explain your needs in a more visual way (gestures/pictures). For example, if trying to book a ticket to from Tokyo to Osaka on Saturday, you can write "9/23, 14:00 Tokyo -> Osaka". When my IC card wouldn't reload at a ticketmachine, I told the station worker, "Pasmo, watashi no okane" then pointed to the machine and made an X gesture with my arms. He got the point and fixed my card so it would reload again.

>>9109591
>>9109596
/trv/ would probably be able to help you more with this, but the general consensus is that if you want to work in Japan, you need to be able to speak Japanese and/or have a highly desired (like programming), or be an English teacher (must be a native or able to demonstrate proficiency). Why would a company hire you when they can hire someone who speaks Japanese natively and doesn't need a visa? If you are attractive then you might be able to land a modeling gig.

It's possible to live for 3 months on that much but you'd be on an extremely tight budget. Either save up more or stay there less. Living frugally is really not fun, especially when you're in a foreign country and can't speak the language and have no family/friends nearby.

>>9109329
Don't bring much money with you, just withdraw it from 7-Elevens. They allow you to withdraw from foreign banks and cards at a reasonable exchange rate that will be better than anything you get at the airport. Also the minimum withdraw amount is 10K yen or roughly $100 so just get out a huge amount at once so you only have to pay the foreign exchange fee once, usually no more than $5 depending on your bank. Keep what you aren't using safe in your luggage, but otherwise it's a safe country for cash.

Make sure to notify your bank that you will be in Japan and any other layover countries.

Another random note: When people want to practice their English on you, humor them, they love to hear "Your English is very good!" and it will improve foreign relations.

>>9109591
A regular vacation visa will let you stay for 90 days I believe, can't help you with more.

>>9109591
Are you at an age that you can apply for a working holiday visa?

How far out is it best to buy plane tickets? What airline or website do you use?

I've been trying to find guides online, a lot say to save a couple hundred dollars for traveling to other parts of Japan. Would it be reasonable to stay in Tokyo and travel to different places each day or to stay in the various places you want to go?

>>9109322
Basic Cost Breakdown:
Flights - $900-1800
Accommodations - $35- $150/night
Food - $20-35/day
Local Transit - $5-10/day
Miscellaneous - $500-800 (wifi, shopping, entrance fees, entertainment, etc)
JR Pass - $400 (7days)

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Anyone been to rabbit island, cat island, or fox village? I'd love to visit one of the three on my trip. But I've heard one of the islands has a lot of dead animals laying around?

>>9109869
Google flights. Found some for $480 but you have to layover in Shanghai nad China sucks. There's another one that goes through Vancouver for $600. I'm on the West coast US though. Google flights just makes it easier to see your options based on dates.

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>>9109886
I went to Bunny Island and it was worth it. I didn't see any dead bunnies but a lot of them are kinda sickly looking or have icky fur because they are wild animals. There were definitely a lot of bunnies but not flocks like this. I could maybe get 6 up to me at a time. Not much else to do around there though except a small nature center, and it's kinda out of the way. I'd only go if you happen to already be around Hiroshima/Osaka/Kobe. Plan to bring a bento or something.

>>9109653
JP post office ATMs don't have that minimum (maybe it's 1000 yen) at least two that's ago it was that way. You can also pull 13000 yen instead of like US ATMs where it's increments of $20. That being said you still pay ur bank fee (~$2)+ their 2%(?).

>>9109886
The fox village is probably the most worth your while because it's actually a sanctuary and the foxes are well cared for. It's pretty up north though almost a little too much for a day trip form Tokyo and it's north of Fukushima if that concerns you

>>9108079
I think there's a vegan chain restaurant called Sekai cafe.

I'm moving to Fukushima in a few months. Are there any shops or cafes worthwhile in that area? I'll also have a leased car, is Tokyo within a driveable distance?

>>9109464
How much was it including airfare and your hotel?

>>9109886
I went to the bunny island too! I'm not sure if there's multiple, but I went ookunoshima or whatever. There was kind of flocks of them, and it was fun because they'd run up to any humans they saw and paw at your legs.
The island is small enough to go on a long hike around the whole thing, there was beautiful clear beaches and mossy hills. It looks like they held some kids summer camps there, as there was an arts and craft room and such. There's also a camping center and a hotel if you wanted to stay the night, which would have been cool. Not to mention bunnies everywhere.
The only downside is you have to drive quite a bit from around Hiroshima and there's not really a lot of shopping or fancy dining or anything around or on the island.
9/10, low tech and surprisingly not commercial, would go again.

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>>9110115

So cute ! I adore animals so I'm sure any of the options would be great for me. Are there anything that you can buy on the island, like a handful of food or something to feed the rabbits?

I never really wanted to wear jfash in Japan because I didnt want to stand out too much. But the "jfash is DEEEDDD!" thread really made me change my mind. Specifically the part about how stores receive lots of foot traffic from tourists there, but not many sales occur from it.

I hope by wearing brand I'll be a huge beacon of "i want to purchase a ton of your items"

>>9109935
I rode a bus from sendai to tokyo when i was there, we stopped in fukushima. I think its about 5-6 hours away by vehicle?

tips on how to get to Osaka's Den Den?
Thanks!

>>9109886
>>9109910
I went to the fox village, and I would say it's not necessarily worth your while unless you really have a thing for foxes and are in the area for other reasons. It's about an hour by train outside Sendai - which isn't too bad from Tokyo if you have the Japan Rail Pass since a shinkansen from Tokyo to Sendai took only an hour, but the cab fare from the train station to the fox village cost 8000 yen and I think that was one way. Fortunately I was traveling with a friend and we met a Canadian at the station so the three of us were able to split the cab fare, but it's in such a rural location it could be a hassle to get to if you were just going for that. I definitely don't regret going, but I might have thought otherwise if I had gone out of my way to do it.

I did get some nice close up shots of the foxes though. I'll try to dig up a pic.

>>9109889
The 600 deal from Vancouver is dead. The deal lasted maybe 2 hours, and I missed it because I was trying to gather my friends.

>checks again just in case

>>9110323
Oh goodness that's much farther than I expected. I suppose I won't be in Tokyo as often as I expected. Thanks for the info anon!

>>9110317
Do it. If you walk into a store wearing their brand they usually get really excited and thank you. I was wearing full Ank Rouge when I went to the shop and the shop girl lit up and got really excited to help me.

>>9109889
You can usually find nonstop flights out of lax for 600 bucks with jal and ana which are the best to fly with. Jal is slightly better in my opinion

>>9110349

Please do! thank you for the info anon... 8000 yen for one way cab is quite expensive. But I dont think I would regret going still, seems like a very cute place to visit

>>9110317
Wore baby to btssb, she recognized it even if it was just a casual cutsew dress.

>>9109946
Airfare was $750 per person as we went for spring break (I've seen tickets for $400 on off seasons) and we stayed at a flat via Airbnb in the middle of shibuya with pocket wifi for I want to say $350 per person for 9 or 10 nights.

>>9110298
I didn't go but my friends who did said you can buy food for the rabbits.

>>9110334
Not looking at a map but iirc it is near Namba station. I visited Denden town, dotonburi, and shinsaibashi one right after the other.

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>>9110575
This was with no zoom with my phone. You're not supposed to touch the foxes though, but they'll let you get really really close to them.

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>>9110903

Too pure, too good

>>9110317
If you're in Harajuku you won't really be standing out anon.
I wore a lot of LF and the shopgirls were so happy that a foreigner like their brand, they were so nice, so it's totally worth visiting the store of whatever brand you're repping because it will honestly make their day.

>>9110903
>>9110914
They're adorable! I'm happy you got to meet them, anon, thanks for sharing!

Anyone know how nightlife is when you're in Jfashion in Tokyo? I imagined Harajuku was the most accepting, but now I'm worried it'll be just tourists .

How long do people usually stay in Japan? I have a healthy budget and think it would be pointless to only stay 1 week. I was thinking of a 2 week minimum but a friend of mine who had traveled there recently stayed 16 days.
Is three weeks, 21 days an absurd amount of time? Is 16 days the usual amount?

>how long did you stay
>did you feel it was enough time
>did you feel rushed or did you have some time for relaxing from the hustle and bustle

>>9112410
There's no 'usual' stay, it just depends on you personally. If you get tired easily or don't have a lot of money, a long stay might be too much, but there's certainly enough to do if you want to stay longer and travel around to different cities. Though one thing to keep in mind is that the rail passes are for either 7 or 14 days, so it's good to try and make your length of stay work around that.

Personally I usually stay around 10 days and travel to a new city every 1-3 days. That's quite tiring so anything longer would be too much. It's more than enough time in small cities, but I prefer at least a few days in Tokyo or Osaka.

>>9112410
It depends on where you're going honestly. If you're just planing to stay in Tokyo then a week is enough.

>stayed for two weeks
>started in Tokyo, stayed there for 3 days then took the train to Sapporo for snow festival for 4 days, then train back for another 3 days, then to Osaka/Kobe/Kyoto for the last 4 days
>had a lot of time, there was no rush because we didn't have a super duper itinerary it was more exploring and finding cool things to do on our own

>>9110726
Just look for Animate In Osaka it's in the hub

For a cheap stay check out AirBnbs. Went to Hiroshima, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo and stayed in apartments the whole time. It's great if you want to weeb out and sleep on futons and take a japanese bath. A few came with a portable wifi to keep with you during the day and bikes.

>>9109935
Like fukushima or like the prefecture? I have family in aizu but that's nothing compared to fukushima proper. >>9110529
Also you can take the shinkansen down there. Or spend half a day on the tohoku line.
>>9112410
I have family and friends in Japan so I don't stay in a hotel or anything. So I don't know much about that.
>how long did you stay
I stay for about 80~ days
>did you feel it was enough time
Yeah you can do anything you want within 2 weeks if you take your time. I don't like Tokyo as much as I do being in tohoku.
>did you feel rushed or did you have some time for relaxing from the hustle and bustle
I spent my first few weeks in messing around in Tokyo then went down south for a week and returned. But after that I kept going up to aizu and middle of nowhere areas of gunma, tochigi, ibaragi, and chiba. I love the country more than the city even tho I'm a train autist.

>>9112410
I've gone twice, and was there for about three weeks each time. We really loved doing it that way. We had time to visit multiple cities for a few days each and not feel rushed to cram too much into any one day. We really loved Tokyo. On our second trip we spent 12 days there and could have easily spent more. Shopping, appreciating smaller sights and the everyday things, being able to sleep in or rest and take it easy for the day, exploring different areas of the city, trying out more restaurants and styles of food, and revisiting areas we really loved were all benefits to staying longer. Also, if you want to do any full day activities like DisneySea (absolutely amazing), or daytrips, that's a huge chunk of a seven day trip. Longer trips are also nice for exploring further away from Tokyo, as train trips can take quite a few hours to farther places.

>>9112423
This anon's point about JR tickets is really valid, as individual trips can run hundreds of dollars. It's best if you can fit all your train travel within one of their time periods.

>>9112447
We had great experiences in the airbnbs we stayed in as well. It worked out to be way cheaper than hotels, and we stayed in areas of town close to the things we wanted to do. The extra pocket wifi was nice if ours ran out of battery, or we wanted to split up for a while.

>>9112160
Everything in Harajuku closes at 8 or 9.

Sorry if this is an odd question - I'll be staying in Japan for two months. What is the salon situation like there? Are they affordable for trims, dying, e tc? Are they also able to do hair removal other than waxing (sugaring or threading ideally)?

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>>9112423

I never even thought about the JR ticket . That is a really valid point. I actually just went to their website however and it does appear they have a 21 day ticket? I went to the website to find out about where exactly the trains go. I always hear about how good it is to get the rail pass.

From my assumption the JR is to go from city to city? And within each city has its own transit operation right?

So as an example I could get the JR pass for 14 days, and then the last or first week just stay in one city and use the local transit? I may consider something like this because a lot of things I want to do are in and around Tokyo.

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>yfw there are cute as heck pop up cafes but you aren't going to be in Japan for the time that they are open

>>9112732
In Tokyo it is the local transit. Actually Jr is 80% of japan's rail network. In Tokyo there are bunch of private companies as well. Jr runs the shinkansen so if you are traveling from Tokyo to Osaka or Tokyo to morioka or down to kyushu it's the only reason to get a rail pass. Other than that you will be using the bus more than the train to be quite honnest.

>>9112732
JR is for any train owned/operated by JR (with the exception of NOZOMI and MIZUHO lines). Generally the JR pass is only worthwhile if you're making multiple long distance trips, for example Tokyo -> Osaka, Osaka -> Hiroshima, etc. In Tokyo for example, there are multiple lines owned and operated by different companies. You can use the JR pass owned/operated by JR. So if you were to pick up a 7 day JR pass, and went from Tokyo -> Osaka, Osaka -> Kyoto, and than Kyoto -> Tokyo in those 7 days, than the JR pass would be worthwhile. But if you only did Tokyo -> Osaka in those 7 days, than it would not.

If you wanna see if a JR pass is worthwhile, you can calculate the cost of your trip using this site:
http://www.hyperdia.com/en/

Generally if you're planning on staying in only one spot and using local transit only, just grab suico/passmo card.

>>9112410
I think a healthy amount of time to spend in Japan is 2-3 weeks. But I recommend that for anyone who plans to stay in Japan for 2 weeks or less, to just stick with a major city like Tokyo. The reason being that there is SO MUCH to do and see in Tokyo alone, that one month isn't even enough to see and do everything. So I don't see the merit of running around like a headless chicken, visiting multiple cities only to catch glimpses of it's people and culture. Whereas you can stick to one location and really immerse yourself in the city.

>>9112732
JR has trains everywhere but the pass is most important for the shinkansen between cities. To see if it's worthwhile go to Hyperdia.com and plug in the cities you will be going between and add up the fare that's listed. If the JR pass is cheaper than that the get it.

E.g. the first time I went to Japan I only went between Kyoto and Tokyo and that fare is cheaper than the pass so I just paid for each ticket individually. But the second time I went between Hiroshima and Tokyo which would have cost much more if I didn't get the pass.

Each city has local JR trains to get around but usually has its own local private lines where the pass won't work. Depending on how long you will be in a city and where you want to visit buying the local train pass is worth it. You don't have to constantly feed coins into the ticket machines and they often come in packages with other tourist stuff. For example Osaka has a train pass that will get you into their huge aquarium and give a ton of discounts for other things and only costs a little more than the aquarium admission

>>9112778
Quick note on the Nozomi and Mizuho is they are very frequent trains and you will be left over with the infrequent ones and have to plan your day carefully around them because if you missed them you're screwed.

That being said we only needed to go between two stations and were getting frustrated waiting for a train we cold take. We ended up sneaking onto a Nozomi and waiting in the bathrooms and loading areas. Totally freaked out the whole time but we made it without incident

>>9108105
Try Airbnb! I used it for the few days I was in Osaka with a few friends.

I went to an onsen village (sorry i really can't remember the name of the place...my friend did all the booking) a bit northwest of Tokyo and pretty much onsen-hopped for 2 days because of how close they are all to each other. The ryokan itself is expensive imo but the actual entrance fee to the onsens are not bad. Make sure to try an oudoor onsen if you get a chance!

>>9112410
>1st time: 1.5 weeks, Tokyo only
>2nd time: 1 week, Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto

I had two friend living in Tokyo so I had tons of time to spend with them and also to explore on my own the first trip so I felt like I went around to all the places I wanted to go the first trip. The second trip felt rushed for me since it was shorter and I had to go to more places.

>>9112410
>how long did you stay
12 days, started in Tokyo, went to Nara to stay with a friend, definitely not enough time. Osaka was awesome
>did you feel it was enough time
Nope, but it was also my first time there
>did you feel rushed or did you have some time for relaxing from the hustle and bustle
Pretty rushed, but still had time to chill

If you know where you're staying and where you are going to go definitely do your research on other transit options and not only JR.

Tokyo Metro for example has passes for foreigners that average 500yen a day if you buy for 3 days (unlimited travel). It was a great deal for my travel needs!

>>9112604

Expensive as fuck. I paid 6000 yen for a men's haircut. Sweet massage, though.

This tread has been really helpful! Thanks everyone who has contributed < 3

Go to don quijote it's super cheap and sells tons of cool things (makeup,stationary,merch you name it!) Tokyu hands is a great art shop, crepes in harajuku are amazing and are cheap, there's a ton of cheap restaurants in shibuya...I can't think of anything else (I've been to tokyo twice I've always stayed in a hotel in shibuya)

>>9109496

Just saw that you'd answered. Thank you so much for the links, it was very interesting to see how other people approach budget travelling.

if you're going to japan have a look at haco stadium, it's still my dream to go there

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>>9113050
>haco stadium

Is this one of those places you rent out the space and take photos?


Speaking of those, does anyone have experience with them? Would prefer a more lolita/jfash centered one. I do hear of places that have different rooms with sets, like alice in wonderland. And you can go in there and take photos? Is it hard to do if you dont speak nip nop?

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This room is cute !

http://tokyodesu.com/2015/04/17/temple-to-cosplay-33-different-photoshoot-sets-available-at-haco-stadium/

looks like it'd be really fun to do, especially as a cosplayer

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THIS FUCKING CHAIR WUT

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these sweet rooms are killing me RIP

>>9112604
Depends entirely on where you go; cuts can be 1000-6000+
Laser hair removal is most popular, or people shave by themselves.

>>9112604
Check hotpepper beauty if you know some Japanese. I always scout out the salons in the area and get coupons from it. Compared to where I live they are pretty affordable for a dye and a cut.

>>9108032
>closetchild stores and your experience
cc shinjuku was the best, shop girls at harajuku came off as a touch rude.
>good finds you've had at stores for lolita
no really good specic ones but good basic peices really cheap in cc.
>burando stores irl
went to ap, shop girls stopped their conversation and just stared, I broughts my socks and left
bodyline taking 3.5 hours at the checkout always and that glorious store music
>things to do in harajuku, shibuya, etc
eat crepes, stare passively around. There was a really pretty shrine in harajuku that was nice after shopping. if you actually want to shop a fun thing my friend and I did was buy matching outfits in different to wear to disney land, it was really fun actually having direct motive to look in each shop.
>japanese phrases to know for shopping
I never really spoke to shop staff except for a few in shibuya 109 who knew english and started conversations with me.
>hidden gems
I didn't realy find any, tutuha was great but not hidden.
>how impossible it is to find a specific address in japan
pretty easy with google maps, if not when I asked people for directions the majority of the time they walked me there funnily enough.
>>9108037
I went to nippori like the other anon said. It was great, they had a really huge range of really interesting fabrics. Can be crowded in stores though and there were not many eateries around from memory.
>>9108035
seconding >>9108049 you'll be fine, as a general rule I usually asked girls if I needed something I couldn't communicate with basic Japanese as it seemed more knew Japanese or were more willing to speak it.
>>9109322
for me I spent about $4000 aud all up after flights and accommodation and including all spending money for a 2 week trip and that was a comfy, if I did it again I feel like I could do it even cheaper. I did not spend that much on food as I only had 1 maybe 2 sit down meal a day generally and found their portion sizes really generous.

Do you stay connected to the internet via data, wifi hotspots, or getting a pocket wifi?

>>9113938
Most people tend to go with pocket wifi, and pick it up from one of the kiosks at the airport. Wifi hotspots aren't as prevalent as you might think, and it's hard to get around relying on it. I personally like to buy a prepaid sim card with data only. It's cheaper than pocket wifi, and you have one less device to carry around with you as you travel. You can grab one from the big electronic chain "Bic Camera".

>>9113938

If you're staying at an Air BnB, you'll like get a pocket wifi included as part of the package.

>>9113938
There's supposed to be a national travel wifi but it was terribland only worked at some train stations.

>>9113072
I've done photoshoots in haco stadium with japanese cosplayers. I can go more detailed about my experience if people are interested but beyond needing to fill in a form to get a membership card and paying/luggage storage you don't need to speak much Japanese. My key thing to mention about haco stadium, at least the Osaka one, is there's a separate room to style/hair spray wigs and you're not allowed to style wigs in the changing rooms which are communal. You have male and female but otherwise you just have a giant room to get changed in and do your make up in with a bunch of other cosplayers. Basically remember to bring a mirror.

>>9113938
When I arrive I just buy an unlimited data sim at bic or yodobashi. Two weeks for 2400.

>>9114037
Please go into more details, I'm excited just at the concept of this sort of thing but have no idea how it works.

>>9113167
>in motherland 2 months ago
>Harajuku CC girls were always super nice to me
>let me try stuff on
>phoned in a favor
>helped me look for a specific dress on the site with their computers

also bodyline's music, I won't ever unhear that winnie the pooh remix unfortunately

>>9112497
>>9112447
This might be veering too off topic but is there some secret formula for getting someone to let you stay in their AirBnB, because I tried a while ago to book one (not in Japan but locally) I filled out all my info, sent in my ID, all that jazz, but I could not for the life of me get anyone to respond. Is it the same in Japan?

>>9114037
More details please. These rooms look amazing! I'd love to get photos there.

>>9113938
I would recommend getting a prepaid sim like others have mentioned. There are tons of options at airports (you can even vending machine them) so just look up which airport you are landing at and their online site will list what stores are there. Pocket wifi deals were too expensive imo but they also have a few different options for them at the airport.

>>9114302
How's your profile picture?
My friend had a picture of himself looking kind of mysterious/cool and got rejected by over 10 places in Japan. As soon as I chose a new picture of him looking friendly and smiling he got accepted by the very next place her requested for.

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What are other good places to go outside of Tokyo?

This will be my first trip to Japan and I likely wont be able to go back for a number of years. So I want to try and get the most out of my trip. I'm mainly interested in Tokyo but still would like to see other cities, and so would my travel partner. I'm thinking of traveling Tokyo - Nagoya - Osaka - Kobe . I would spend the most amount of time in Tokyo.

Are there other cities worth the trip? How about Hiroshima? Are there any more rural areas with natural beauty, shrines, etc anyone would recommend?

>>9112732
You got a lot of answers already, but basically it's best to just figure out what cities you're visiting and use hyperdia to figure out the ticket cost, then compare to JR pass prices.

Some extras about the JR pass is that you can also use it on local JR trains (re: non-shinkansen trains) - you show the pass to the person at the station gate and they wave you through. There are JR local lines in basically all big cities and many smaller ones as well (most cities you visit will have JR lines unless you really go off the beaten path). All cities have their own privatized company (e.g. Tokyo Metro) - for these your JR pass does not work, but fares are generally cheap anyway so you're just saving a couple bucks.

One perk of the pass is that since you get unlimited rides while it's active, you don't really have to worry about making your train on time and can even reserve seats at different times (this is kinda asshole-y to do though since it denies other passengers these seats, plus you'd have to do it at different stations) for maximum flexibility. For example, I reserved my Tokyo-Kyoto, Osaka-Hiroshima, Hiroshima-Tokyo tickets all at once to secure the timeslots I wanted. I ended up missing my Osaka-Hiroshima train so I just went to the ticket office and reserved a new seat on the next available train. But since that was going to depart a couple hours later, I ended up just waiting on the platform for a non-reserved train and took that instead.

tl;dr JR pass is very convenient but YMMV

>>9114848

Thank you for still answering ! All the info I get is useful and I like hearing of others experiences.
I think the one thing that really worries me about the JR is just... Getting lost? Or getting on the wrong train? Makes me very anxious. Or not knowing what lines the JR ticket covers. I've been reading articles about it today and found some useful info though.

>https://backpackerlee.wordpress.com/2014/11/06/a-bullet-to-the-heart/
>this explained the different lines I thought pretty well

The first time I started using transit in my own city I was super nervous, its like that all over again since I'm unfamiliar with their system.

-Closetchild is absolutely incredible, you'll probably buy more from there than brand stores because the prices are so good. I liked Shinjuku and Harajuku's the best, Ikebukuro is good for lolita but wasn't much punk/goth.

-Suica is a must-have, you'll be using it a lot both in stations and arcades

-Harajuku is honestly fairly disappointing; in my experience the best shops are the ones you expect the least of; the big well-known J-Fashion brand shops are poor. Everything is a lot smaller and a lot less impressive than it looks in pictures online. It's also very touristy.

-Shibuya is cool but the 109 is weird; reverse tardis. Looks big on the outside, is actually tiny inside - there aren't really many good stores in there either.

-The marui annex in Shinjuku is surprisingly good for J-Fashion, there's basically a whole floor with the Kera shop, PUTUMAYO, h.Naoto and others.

-The train system isn't that confusing, but I say that as someone who can navigate London's underground backwards with their eyes closed half asleep and hungover; to an American who has never ridden a train I'm not sure what it'd be like. Just be logical and follow the signs.

-Lots of Americans claim things are expensive but the prices are just London prices basically, except food - food is very cheap in Tokyo IMO.

-As you're probably aware, you don't tip anyone for anything - it's considered rude to do so and most will just 'assume' you left the money behind and run down the street after you.

-Get used to not sitting down on trains, get used to your legs aching like hell.

>>9114801
We need more information, such as budget, length of stay, interests, etc. As I mentioned before, I don't really recommend anyone to travel to multiple destinations if their in Japan for 2 weeks or less. It's better to stick to 1 city as a lot of time is eaten up traveling from city to city and getting settled in.

If you're dead keen on checking out some cities with a lot of natural beauty and shrines, than I can't recommend Nara and Kyoto enough. Especially Nara, the deer park is what sells it.

>>9114888
I'l be honest, the train system is VERY intimidating at first because it's so dense. However, you will quickly find that everything makes sense and it's very easy to navigate once you get used to it (within a couple days). Since you are already used to public transit, the concept is basically the same: follow the colored lines from your current station to your destination station. Transfer as needed.

Some things that I found helpful:
>IC card
This is a reloadable card that you use for public transport; it can kinda be used like a debit card at convenience stores too. For Tokyo, it's SuICa or Pasmo. They are almost completely interchangeable; for 99% of people visiting Japan, you can travel even to Hiroshima and not have issues with either card. It's a lot faster to just beep the card through the ticket gate than go to the machine and figure out exact fare. Towards the end of your trip, rather than cashing out the remaining balance (they charge a fee for that), just buy snacks for the plane ride from 7-11.

>JR vs everything else
JR has presence in basically every city, but as mentioned in the previous post, there are other privatized public transport lines. Suica/Pasmo will work with JR and non-JR trains so no need to worry about your card not working. Only thing to keep in mind here is that transferring from a JR train to JR train (or Tokyo Metro to Tokyo Metro) will be cheaper than if you go from JR to Tokyo Metro (and vice versa). If you're going to be transferring a lot then generally it's cheaper to keep it all in the same company.

>turnstiles
Beep in when entering the station and beep out when departing the station. If you have a JR pass, go to the windowed office at the side of the turnstiles and show the person your pass and they will wave you through (you do not pay with your pasmo/suica if you have a JR pass). If no one is there just call out "sumimasen" and someone will appear immediately.

>>9114801
How could you not list Kyoto? It's THE place for beautiful shrines and parks. Like the other anon I can also recommend Nara. And I also read about Kibune (near Kyoto), it is supposed to have beautiful nature, but I didn't managed to visit it. If you are in Kyoto and love nature, then visit the Arashiyama bamboo forrest and especially the small temples around it.
Try www.japan-guide.com, it's a very good website

>>9110349
There is absolutely no way the shinkansen from Tokyo to Sendai took 1 hour. Isn't the fox village in Fukushima anyway? I think you're mixing up your cities.

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>>9114801
It's a little hard to get to but in Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, there's an amusement park called FujiQ Highland that has 4 world record breaking roller coasters and Evangelion World. The lines are long but the coasters are worth it. There's a bit of a fast pass system which helps

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If you want good shrines go to Fushimi Inari outside of Kyoto in the late afternoon to climb to the top and try and restaurant on the way up or a food stand near the front. When night falls it is literally the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

So I'm going to go to Osaka in september and I was wondering if anyone could recommend some cute cafes or j-fash-related/weeby/trendy places or stores to visit
Of course I'll be hitting up all the lolita stores and going to Universal JP, but that's a given.

>>9114037
This is me talking about my experience at the haco stadium in Osaka and I don't know what other studios are like but I assume everything within the haco family should be similar.

You can buy different 'tickets' that are different prices and times. You can get a full day ticket till when it starts until when it closes or you can get a half day ticket. First timers will need to fill in a form for a membership card. While you wait if you've gotten an afternoon ticket, there's a cafe with a little side cosplay shop, purikura booths and old copies of cosmode you can look through. Obviously you don't come in costume, you bring it in a small suitcase or a big bag and each time you change you can drop it off in the luggage storage. Then after you've changed you basically have a bunch of floors you can go to and each floor has a variety of sets. It's considered polite to go use a different set when someone else/another group is using it. There are tripods and some other camera side equipment you can rent out but you need to have a camera and someone to take photos yourself. Other than that though it's just about being polite.

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weird question. i follow a lot of indie artists who are either musicians, crafters, artist, etc. I see sometimes they have exhibits among other artists. would it be possible to attend one of these? are some of the fairs annual?

>i would love to go to some sort of craft fair/store that sells handmade stuff and buy items

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>>9115659

another example. im not entirely sure what the group is about but to me it appears to be a group of indie artists exhibiting works?

their stuff always looks super cool though

>4chan thinks its spam
> facebook / super.meteor.club /

Going to Japan for two weeks.
So far my current plans are, half the time in Tokyo, A few days in Kyoto, a day in Hiroshima and maybe Disney Tokyo.

Is this too much traveling in two weeks?
Also, would you recommend a 7 day JRail pass or a 14?

>>9114151
I thought you couldn't get a SIM? Or is that you can't rent a phone?

>>9115663

I cant say because I havent been myself but I have tons of friends who have gone. They all seem to go for at least 16 days.

I think with 16 days it gives you 2 days strictly for travel, getting settled in. And then the full 2 weeks to do what you want in Japan.

Good luck with your travels! And I hope someone can give you better advice haha.

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I think I was able to find one of the festivals via instagram. I'll leave their website for anyone else interested. Looks like there is one in July (nope.jpg) and November (yesplz.png)

http://designfesta.com/

>>9114801
Kyoto is an easy travel from Osaka! Definitely check it out for some temples!

>>9114888
Google maps show different transit options WITH prices! Very easy to follow and even shows which platform to board at.

>>9115573
Does everyone in your group need to fill out a form or is one membership per group okay? Also are tickets per person (would your photog need to pay too?)or per group?

>>9115666
Different anon but you can definitely get a sim and there are also phone renting options at the airport iirc. Your phone just needs to be unlocked. If you are unsure, the kiosk people can help you get it all set up to go.

>>9114302
I had stayed at previous places in other countries and had good recs. Just fill it out as best you can and be friendly. Verify everything you can.

>>9115659
You should check out Village Vanguard for sure. They sell tons of interesting things. Comiket also has a really good indie craft section and is held twice yearly. Design Festa is another big one another anon mentioned.

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>>9114261
>winnie the pooh remix
IM DYING OMG I NEED TO HEAR THIS


haha anyway
what are good times of the year to go an visit? i would like to go next year and am starting to investigate

>>9115787

From what I've heard April or October are the "best " times to go. In april the cherry blossoms are in bloom. I also think that would mean these are busier times.

If you are in tokyo, it seems pretty much any time except summer is OK. I remember seeing a graph of the temperatures per month and it doesnt get too cold there. Summer is apparently hot, humid, and quite hellish though.

My friend went last October during halloween and said is was amazing. Everyone in Shibuya was dressed up and that it was also very busy. But he enjoyed seeing the costumes and festivity of Halloween.
>if youre a huge nerd for Halloween, it could be fun to go this time of year
I've also noticed while doing research that many cafes decorate for the holidays, including Halloween. I think it has begun to become more and more popular there.

Holy shit this thread has me so hype

Um, has anyone ever, say, "met" a japanese person, so to speak? I'm not going just for that, but you know, I gotta ask...

>>9115806

This thread has me hyped to anon !

What do you mean met? Like out of country or in Japan itself?
My grandma every year has Japanese exchange students and they are fun to talk to. In Japan I hear a lot of people actually just approach you randomly to try their English skills out on you.
I think airbnbs are good for meeting people. My friend had a fantastic experience with them and went to lots of parties with his airbnb host.

>>9115810
I think anon 1 might be making a sex reference, anon 2

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>>9115814

....ohhhhhhhh

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Going to tokyo this september and is there any recommended place to get Itabag stuff? I know there's animate and I'll probably go to the WEGO in Harajuku.

>>9115859
Go to the bigger Animate stores for the secondhand section. If you happen to like the less popular characters you can find a lot of their stuff for really cheap. Nakano Broadway is like that section of Animate x100, you can find a lot of stuff for bargain prices but you'll have to go through a lot of stores with a lot of stuff. Great place for finding a specific item you want from a kuji or gachapon without having to risk getting a bunch of crap characters lol.

>>9115659
Tokyu hands in shibuya hosts a variety of hand made exhibits (at least the two weeks I was there) and so do random galleries in harajuku. Your best bet is to follow some artists on Twitter and wait until they announce something and or look at all fliers when you visit shops. I found one of my new favorite artists because I saw their fliers at maiden clothing along with random stores in nakano Broadway

>>9115468
2nding this if you love roller coasters but me aware that they close rides due to wind conditions so often roller coaster rides go off and on

>>9113938
If you have T-Mobile in the Us, it's more than likely you gave free data in Japan.

>>9115663
Get a 7 day pass. For example, spend days 1-3 in Tokyo, activate the pass day 4, travel until day 11, spend the end of your trip in Tokyo. The pass is really only worth it for long trips, not riding around Tokyo.

I will be going to Japan in a couple weeks for the first time. I think this will be a great opportunity to start my lolita wardrobe with some quality items minus the shipping.

I was wondering what shopping in AP is like, specifically. How do they treat foreigners not in lolita? Do they measure you/help you pick sizes? How's the selection?

Another question would be what parts of my coord should I buy second hand/not brand. I was thinking petti and bag - or is it worth the investment to get it all in the same place? I have the money to spend and intend to be quite dedicated to the fashion.

>>9115986
They are pleasant enough to foreigners not in lolita. However they are very hands off - its your responsibility to know your own measurements but the clothes don't even have that information written on the tag, only online. There is usually only one size for the clothing, but most of it is adjustable in some way with back shirring (ruching) or waist ties. The selection is usually very good unless you want a new and popular print.

Most people don't get brand petticoats but since you have the money, you could get it all at AP.

>>9116026
Thank you for your reply!

If the stock is only one size, how screwed am I if I'm relatively tall (172cm/5' 7.7") but not wide? Don't want to end up looking silly with waistline just under my boobs.

>>9115951
This. It's super nice getting off the plane and not worrying about finding my way around.

>>9116175
Back in the day you might have had trouble, but nowadays AP tends to be longer to accommodate tall people. I'm 5'6.5'' and have no trouble.

>>9116175
>>9116225
Adding to this, just don't pick out stuff with obviously small bodices like high-waisted dresses.

>>9116175
Avoid dresses with empire waists and stick to dresses that have shirring. I'm 5' 10" and most of APs newer items fit me just fine.

>>9115787
I've never been to the Bodyline store but I believe past anons have mentioned they just play the Disney eurobeat CD all day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xidHiUsTwgk

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>>9115483
I went at both night and morning and I think it will depend on what you want to get out of it. Visually, night was very beautiful since the lanterns are lit up. However there are bugs galore and it is very difficult to see especially when climbing all those steps. If you're going to the top then I highly recommend you bring a flashlight.

In the morning, if you go right when the trains start running (~5am) then absolutely no one is there (compared to at night where there are enough people wandering around to still mess up your photos). You can watch the sun rise and the lighting is perfect for taking pictures (pic related). I was (un?)fortunately jetlagged which allowed me to easily get up at the crack of dawn for this.

>>9115951
You get free data in Japan if you have t-mobile, I used it for my last trip. Just make sure your phone has roaming enabled.

>>9115663
It's doable, but I personally wouldn't recommend it as your schedule is a bit hectic. Your itinerary would look something like this:

Days
1 Arrive in Tokyo
2-8 Tokyo
9 Tokyo -> Kyoto
10-11 Kyoto
12 Hiroshima
13 Kyoto -> Tokyo
14 Depart Tokyo

In this scenario, you'd only want a 7day JR pass, as a 14day pass would be wasted on you during your days in Tokyo. It'd be much cheaper getting a prepaid Suica card taking local transit. Keep in mind, the 7day pass includes your day of activation as one of the 7 days. Meaning, you activate it on Tuesday and it expires on the Monday.

Is there any particular reason why you wanna travel all the way to Hiroshima? Even by Shinkansen (Bullet Train), it'll take about 4hrs to travel to Hiroshima from Kyoto. It'd be easier and more practical to visit some of the neighbouring cities like Nara, Osaka or Kobe instead.

Keep in mind there are actually two Disney amusement parks in Tokyo. Their right beside each other. One is Tokyo Disney and the other is Tokyo Disney Sea. Tokyo Disney is more geared towards young children, while Tokyo Disney Sea is a franchise with their own mascot (Duffy the Bear), and the rides and attractions are geared towards adults.

>>9116506
>It'd be easier and more practical to visit some of the neighbouring cities like Nara, Osaka or Kobe instead.
Agreed, and I don't see the point in staying in Kyoto when you can stay in the more central/convenient Osaka and just travel out to Kyoto from there for a day trip or two (unless you specifically wanted to stay at a certain place in Kyoto, I guess).

Personally I'm going from Osaka to Hiroshima later this year (to go to rabbit island, can't wait) but I'm traveling down to Kagoshima and stopping at a few cities along the way.

Which stores will carry Rika-Chan? Preferably new sets, not used that Mandarake or other places will have.

Which stores carry Bandai products like their small miscellaneous toys and magical girl stuff?

Would all this junk be at Kiddyland? Any other good places to buy Japanese toys?

>have to plan a trip to japan for 5 people, possibly 6

do you think I could get a group discount or something? fuck this

>>9119759
I did it for 5/6, nothing much discount wise but if you book a hostel you can book an entire room for all of you so you don't have to sleep with a klepto.

>made the mistake of travelling 5 instead of 6 once
>ended up with a random who slept in bed with his shoes on
>¡¡¡¡¿¿¿!!!!! ***

Just general dress code: compared to western countries, in Japan showing cleavage in public is considered a big no-no. People won't harass you, but they will give you looks of... disappointment? Short skirts or short shorts on women are considered cute, though, and not sexy in the way Western countries view mini skirts or short shorts, so you have a bit of leeway there if it's hot out.

If you're using mass transit in Tokyo during rush hour, expect to feel a bit frumpy compared to the salarymen and OLs in their suits and suit-skirts. Not saying you should be dressed up for then, dress however is comfortable to travel for you and to them you'll obviously be a tourist, but just warning you in advance because the uniformity can be a little unnerving to see at first.

>>9119783
>showing cleavage is shameful
>having your ass and panties viewable is ok

that's so bizarre to me

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>>9119783

speaking of dress code. How screwed am I if my partner looks like a homeless man 100% of the time? I'm really trying to push him to get some good clothes before we go. Especially if restaurants have dress codes, but he's stubborn. He usually wears sweat pants, some random tshirt, and a plaid work jacket. Pic related but more greased stained irl.

>>9119844
It's more of a legs thing. Short skirts = long legs = good. But big boobs = obscene.

>>9119857
I'd also like to know this, my boyfriend dresses the same way.

also anon I feel your fucking pain
>literally only wears one outfit
>he has more clothes but refuses to change his outfits

>>9119857
>sweat pants
>greased stained
dump him, ffs

>>9119857
>>9119892
You'e foreigners, so no one will expect you to dress very well. Just use common sense and don't wear that stuff to very fancy or very formal places. I dressed like a sweaty hobo in shorts my first trip there in peak summer and it wasn't an issue.

I saw way too many tourists in tube tops and short shorts that looked like trash, but never witnessed anyone get kicked out. It isn't like other travel destinations that have more religious requirements for coverage when entering holy places. Shinto and Buddhism seemed very relaxed.

>>9119926
Seriously, you all have some scrub ass bfs. Don't let him wear sweat pants there or really anywhere that is outside of the house.

>>>/trv/

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>>9119926
>>9119940

He's my husband lmao, kind of too far in to dump him. Love him to pieces though, he's just a butt about going clothes shopping.

His work is really dirty and labor intensive, thats why his clothes look so dumpy. I need him to get some... out of work clothing. I dont mind him wearing whatever day to day, its just I would like to take him to some fancier places and not have him look homeless.

>>9116506
I'm not the person you're replying to but I landed in Tokyo right after AX and went to Hiroshima, and made my way back north
1 Arrive in tokyo and train to Hiroshima
2 Hiroshima -> Osaka
3 Osaka -> Arima-onsen
4 Arima -> Nara -> Kyoto
5 Kyoto -> Shinjuku, Tokyo
6 Day trip to abandoned town in mountains still staying in shinjuku
7-14 Airbnb near tokyo skytree
15-17 hotel near ikebukero station
18 capsule hotel next to golden gai
19 left

Was dead tired on arrival into Japan and barely stayed awake making it to the hotel on the first night, but at least it completely reset my sleep schedule

>>9119973
Uniqlo that shit. Have him wear heavy warm clothes for the flight and "forget" to pack his other clothes.

>>9115798
>Summer is apparently hot, humid, and quite hellish though.
Ya got that right, always sweating, always hot. At a certain point if you're outside enough you start to get used to it a bit, although that doesn't really make it that much better ~_~
Prices were lower at hotels/airbnbs though than other times, if you're trying to save money.
Also more daylight hours if you want to see stuff in the day.

>>9115798
Interesting. I was considering going during Halloween this year because I've seen pics of tons of cute costumes and stuff, it looked fun but I wasn't sure how big it truly was there. Your post has convinced me further

>>9115798
There are a ton of people dressed up wandering around Shibuya but there really isn't anything to do but walk around. Also, police will probably start to crack down on it being so crowded

>>9117306
Do you mean like the doll "Ricca"? I don't believe kiddy land had a big selection... It's mostly like Ghibli, Sanrio, Disney, pullip or some other doll brand and small character sections. I didn't go into many toy shops but... There was one in ueno that's famous and right under the station bridge. It has a few floors and I believe one was for dolls like Ricca but this was two years ago

>>9119931
Many of my Japanese professors and tour guides suggested covering shoulders and wearing shorts to your knees/leggings under shorts as respect in shrines and temples but now with a certain neighboring counrry and their unruly tourists disrespecting things such as standing in the pond to fill up a water bottle..... I think they can't care as much now. But people don't take it personally like they may if you were at the Vatican.

Also if you wear rubber flip flops in the summer and you're not standing on a beach everyone will stare at you. We were on our way to enoshima on an especially hot day....

>>9120114
>flip flops cause staring
I wear flip flops all the time I'd like some explanation for this

>>9120121
Because it's sloppy

>>9120121
At least the rubber kind. It's seen as too casual/only beach wear. Even sandals often get worn with socks... I think it's part of Japan's suffer for fashion. Wear mini skirts in winter because we must always look great. If you're wearing the fancier flip flops like luxury brand ones or the leather and gem stone ones it may be okay but I think it's something about toes?

If your saying you wear them all the time in Japan and never get stared then idek. I forgot my shoes when I first moved there and had to wear flip flops until my shoes got there (massive feet and didn't like how their men's running shoes were shaped) everyone was always looking at my feet. the next summer when a friend from Arizona came who was use to always wearing them also noticed everyone would look at her feet too.

>>9120121
because they're fucking ugly and trashy

>>9119973
Buy him new clothes, pack them for him, make sure there's no way he can sneak his greasy rags in. Make him wear something plain and clean for the flight, insist that you want to look smart or that there's a dress code or something, that way he can't embarrass you by wearing the same hobo clothes every day.
>>9120114
>standing in the pond to fill up a water bottle
Jesus. Disrespect aside, how can anyone want to drink that shit?

>>9120132
Maybe because they look like the kind of shoes you'd wear to go into the bathroom in

>>9120109

Yeah! Ricca! Sorry google translates it into various things because I think its supposed to be Lisa?

I really look forward to seeing all the cute ass toys in Japan, their quality is just so much better than the wests. I'm also going to be on the hunt for Mamegoma stuff. Does anyone know if the Rilakkuma stores exclusively only have Rilakkuma? Or do they carry other San-X characters as well?

>>9120736
This

Wear them to the pool and beach is fine but anywhere else is just so lazy and trashy

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>>9121064
Take a look for yourself.

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>>9121064

>>9115468
Do you think it would be worth to just go to Evangelion World and possibly the onsen?

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>>9121064

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rope in shibuya is good for used schoolgirl clothes

>>9121105
Those price tags though, goddamn.

>>9121078

>sanrio in a san-x store
what is this

>>9120114
Does the same apply to sandals? It's gonna be hot when I'm there but if showing toes is a problem I can wear something else.

>>9121024
It was an article about a certain tourist standing in the pond to get a water bottle full of the lucky fountain water. I think ones for love, school and health? I guess he thought the pond would just go to sewage.

>>9121367
You'll see when you get there. If you mean berkenstocks or whatever those strappy old people sandals Germans and Danish wear... Then no way. But if it's like q jfashion style sandals it's okay but ideally they wear pantyhose or socks with them. It may have changed in the last year or so but at the very least groom/paint your nails nice.

If you'll only be in tourist areas it's fine but at he same time you're very prone to being stepped on in crowded trains or places like takashitadori on the weekend or shibuya crossing.

That being said it's not against the law or anything. You just may yet dirty looks or feel embarrassed because your feet look underdressed

>>9121117
It's a toy store - Kiddyland

>>9121436
Sorry I thought they were pictures of the rilakkuma store

About the heat and humidity, how insufferable is Tokyo in early August? Is it anything like the climate in the SEA region?

Also, are the Final Fantasy or Square Enix restaurants worth visiting?

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What's a good wig shop around Tokyo or Kyoto/Osaka?

>>9121965
Weather forecast for the coming weeks is around 30 with thunderstorms and humid. It should be manageable, though definitely not comfy weather.

Between these three times, when would be a good time to visit:
>Christmas/New Years
>Mid-July
>October

Wanting to get started on the planning. Mainly focused on the shopping

>>9123136
October for good weather and cheap flights. Holiday season for good sales. July will be the way warm.

>>9123136
definitely not mid-july. you'll be burning alive

>>9123136
Christmas/New Years is a good time, as the weather is really nice and you get to check out the New Years festivals. Though that may limit your time shopping, as almost everything is closed.

October is good too, but it's a bit warmer than you might expect. I went twice. Once for 4 weeks in September-October, and again for 3 weeks in November-December. I'm Canadian so I'm more used to the cold, and October felt like the summer back home desu.

>>9121965
I went to the Eorzea cafe and it was worth it. The main course food was meh but the desserts were really yummy and cute. The staff didn't speak much English but we got by, they have an English menu. But if you play ffxiv its really neat to check out. You get some cool freebies. Make sure you buy tickets ahead of time though if you're going on the weekend or a holiday, they get booked up quickly.

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>>9121393
I'm in tokyo right now and every other person is wearing Birkenstocks. And every shoe store is selling them. Pic related, taken at a shinjuku department store a couple weeks ago.

Also people seem to be wearing a lot of loose/flowy clothes, by far the most popular thing here right now is super wide leg pants/culottes.

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>>9124009
Also popular in tokyo right now:
Teva sandals and wearing sandals with socks

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>>9124011
Also jumpsuits with the wide legs, and wearing short sleeve tops underneath spaghetti straps. I've seen people wearing something like pic related so many times.

Overalls are also popular now.

>>9124011
Well shit. I didn't realize the trend was in. But do they always wear socks?

>>9124036
>do they always wear socks?
why don´t you check>>9124014

Bump, how far in advanced should I buy flight tickets?

>>9125459
Depends on what specials are on offer.

>>9125459
I'd suggest about 3 months.

For hotels, 2 months at the latest, they sell out really fast, at least around Tokyo.

>>9124038
I ment with Birkenstocks, it would be a little hard to wear anything between your toes with socks (referring to pic you tagged me in

>>9108037
Nippori is definitely the place to go for textiles, although Shimokitazawa has a few decent shops and is generally a fun area. Kichijouji has a bigass craft shop right at the station that I can't remember the name of offhand and is another interesting area.

The number one most useful phrase: "sumimasen"; it's more or less "excuse me", with the same connotations as English (apology, attention getter, etc.)

>>9108035
If you look remotely Asian and wear jfashion, figure out how to say "I don't speak Japanese". I'm half Filipino and tons of shop girls (almost every single store I went in) walked up to me at some point and started speaking to me about any sales. I always said " sumimasen, nihongo wakarimasen" but I don't know if that's right.


Oh and also
"Toilet doko desu ka"

>>9108105
Ryokan with onsens are fucking awesome. Definitely one of the best parts of my trip.

Eat sushi and takoyaki at dotonbori in osaka

So how exactly do these pre-paid simcards or whatever work? I'm leaving for Japan in 2 weeks, and want to be able to use data while Im over there...without my carrier charging me 10USD a day for using my phone. I saw someone earlier mention something about a way to get around this, but I don't really get how it works...is it something you buy and put in your phone?

>>9121367
If you wear nice sandals it's fine. I wore cute sandals and had no problem at all.

>>9126024
The keyword is cute. Anything that looks like something that you would buy in the bathroom slipper section of Daiso will look like...well a bathroom slipper. So no foam flip flops

>>9125740
A lot of the birkenstocks they're wearing here don't have things between the toes. I have noticed multiple people wearing socks with those kinds too though. some of them just looked like regular socks but they sell a lot of socks here that are like tabi where the big toe is separate so I see that a lot too.

>>9126020
You buy a prepaid sim card and replace your phone's sim card with it. Make sure you have a phone model that works in Japan. Newer iPhones do. I got a data only card at bic camera, 3 GB for $38, lasts for 3 months. Everyone that needs to call me has Skype or Facebook and I just use that, and then I added money to my Skype account so I could call people's phones. $5 Skype credit buys you like 3-4 hours of talking time, it's great. Anyway the sim card I got is called the Japan travel sim. I recommend. But you can also get them in the airport. If you see data only Japan travel sim in 2gb or 3gb at the airport just buy that. But putting them in yourself is a real bitch, because there seem to be a lot of Japanese prompts to answer. At the bigger bic camera in shinjuku the guy put it in for me and it looked a bit difficult, but there are instructions included in the booklet in English.

>>9126011
> I always said " sumimasen, nihongo wakarimasen" but I don't know if that's right.

Pretty close. The way you have it phrased (translation: sorry, Japanese not understand). The correct phrase would've been "sumimasen watashi wa nihongo wakarimasen" (translation: sorry I don't understand Japanese).

Is there a website that has a list of upcoming manga/anime or fashion events?

>>9126178
You don't need the topic; it's pretty clear they're talking about themselves.

>>9126178
It's perfectly correct and more natural sounding to drop the 'watashi wa' though.

>>9126083
Ok- thank you so much for the helpful answer! I have a galaxy s7, so I'm hoping I'll be ok. If not I guess I'll skate by on wifi and skype cards!

>>9126083
http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Japan has a nice rundown on the options available, too. (And why it's such a PITA to get voice-capable SIMs.)

In addition: T-mobile used to have free 3G data in Japan. It was spotty (at best!) but it did work.

>>9126478
You can actually look up which phone models will work on Google.

>>9126178
i-is this bait?

>>9126989
No

>>9127002
so, yes

men's closetchild are shit unless you'r looking for leather jacket's. the robot cafe thing in shinjuku was ''what the hell is going on'' experience but not really worth it imo. harujuku was pretty kewl. and someone already said DO get the suica(assuming your staying in tokyo) card asap once you get there as it will save you a lot of hassle and time

>>9116506
Not sure if this thread is dead...

But I'm traveling to Hiroshima specifically for the museum. I feel like it's something I need to do while I'm there.

Kyoto for the history.

>>9116506
Oh also, I forgot to mention. I'm only planning Disney Sea. I've heard Disney Tokyo is almost exactly like Disneyland.

>>9128190
>white guilt
Yes, good goy

>>9128193
>I've heard Disney Tokyo is almost exactly like Disneyland
Pretty much. The Tokyo park was built in the image of Disneyland so the layout and rides are similar.
Good choice going with DisneySea. From my experience it was more enjoyable than Tokyo Disneyland. Shorter queues, decent rides, and the whole park is very doable in a single day. When I went it was an older crowd and the vibe was relaxed and fun. There were also couples and groups dressed up in cute outfits.
But make sure you pick up some Duffy Bear or Gelatoni merchandise. That shit is adorable.

Love this thread! SO many cute places.
Heading to japan next year for a month or so but I like to plan ahead. I stopped by japan when i was like 16 (21 now) with my mum for 4 day on the way home from europe (I live in australia) and it was the most amazing taste of tokyo!!!

If you're into museums and parks I'd suggest going to Uneo Park. Lots going on there.
I went to @home cafe and it was amazing. I'd like to visit Cure maid cafe this time.

While I was in Tokyo I spent a day with a guide from tokyofreeguide.org/. IT was really nice being with someone who spoke japanese and knew how to do everything. Especially useful if it's early in your trip. You just have to pay for everything you do with them; their ticket, meals, entry fees.

>>9113035
Why does everyone keep saying that? Went there and make-up was just as everywhere else, merch even slightly more expensive. The only cheap stuff there are the offers, otherwise kinda meh. Go there if you want to kill time.

>>9113035
Nah it's not as cheap as many think. Actually I think their prices are kinda over the top (not all products but)

>>9128495
I'm super excited for this the more I hear about it.

>>9129657
I hope you have a great time.
Are you bringing food with you? Disney food looks good but the taste is awful. I had some water and bread/pastries in my bag and they were a lifesaver.

>>9128495
Just adding because I'm a Obsessed with Disney... The park looks really similar but the rides aren't exactly the same. Because it's not owned only by Disney but also half by oriental something or other the rides are slightly different. Haunted mansion is jack skelington, the tower of terror is a mix of twilight zone and something to do with stealing a monkey figure and cursing the hotel,Ect. Also space mountains track was really different and I believe seemed a bit tronish.
I'm not sure if they have the pooh and hephalump ride in Disney world but it's worth going if you like pooh.

In Tokyo and other big cities, how are gays treated? Is it safe to travel with my significant other or should I say she's just a friend?

>>9130271
The rides are disappointing if those are your thing. Best is probably Space Mountain. I'm glad I went once but would have rather tried DisneySEA since there's no other Disney park like it.

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>>9131056
Young people might be fine with it but avoid bringing it up with older people. To get an idea, check out Ellen Paige's Gaycation in Japan. Warning: It's pretty powerful and probably moreso if you're in the LGBT community. The bit where she talks to some fujoshit is pretty painful in a different way.

https://www.viceland.com/en_us/show/gaycation

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>>9131067
>>9131056

Totally fine, being LGBT in Japan is only an issue for Japanese and it's more of a family issue. Nobody will yell at you for being gay, you definitely won't get any abuse. Old people won't be rude to you, they won't even be rude to other Japanese people they don't know - they're too polite for that.

Homophobia in Japan is at its worse within the family. LGBT youth in Japan can have issues with parents disowning them, arranging straight marriages regardless and forcing them to have kids as much as they can. It's an appearances thing.

You'll have no problems in Japan being gay at all, just don't expect things in government to move quickly for you or watch 'gay' people on Japanese TV if you decide to live there.

As a rule - When people tell you stuff about how conservative Japan is, it's normally a knee-jerk reaction to weabooism and is often vastly over-exaggerated. These people will have you believe that people will hate you for being foreign and despise gays/<insert minority here>. As a tourist, you'll have zero problems - if you choose to live in Japan you *might* get subtle signs you're being discriminated against for being foreign when you're trying to rent a place - in other words your estate agent will speak to the landlord and come back and tell you that something came up and it's suddenly not available - in other words the landlord doesn't trust foreigners not to be party animals.

Japan isn't some kind of liberal paradise where everything goes, but it's a lot better than 4chan likes to scare you into thinking. Japanese society is all about maintaining the status quo, even towards Japanese people discrimination is kept behind closed doors and done quietly and subtly, it would be considered very poor form to outwardly discriminate like that.

I've noticed Americans being the very upfront and individualistic people that they are have the biggest problem with it, they like people being honest with their emotions which Japanese aren't.

>>9131067
>>9131125
Thank you so much for the detailed responses. I figured nothing bad would happen but I wanted to double check.

>>9131056
Go hang out in Shinjuku 2choume; it's where a good portion of the gay clubs are. (And the gay Popeye store, of course.) Gay culture does tend to be more closeted there.

>>9128489
>Assuming I'm white.

>>9130257
Diabetic. So I always carry food on me.

How common are tour guides that can speak english? I'm a huge museum geek but can't speak japanese beyond a few basics.

>>9131346
Most can speak some basic English and a lot know it fluently

>>9128728
Don Quijote is for the most part cheaper than Tokyu Hands. I bought a huge suitcase at the former for 90000yen; at Tokyu Hands the same size would have costed me 200000+. I kind of think of DQ like Walmart - it's not always going to be the cheapest, but for the most part the stuff there is pretty budget and there's the convenience of being able to get all your shit in one store for relatively cheap versus shopping multiple locations for the best price.

>>9131067
I just watched this and it was difficult to get through (I cried a couple times) but I really liked the intent behind the show. Are the other episodes like the Japan one?

>>9128728
It's generally quite cheap with a wide variety of items for sale. Their a nationwide chain, so it's more accessible to a lot of foreigners. Though I'll admit some stores are better than others. For instance the shop in Ikebukuro was larger and much better organized than their branch in Akihabara. They also offer tax-free shopping for foreigners if you spend 5000yen or more before tax, which is a plus as they do the rebate in store.

A couple of items I like to get from there as souvenirs where I know they have competitive prices and good selection are snacks and alcohol.

>>9131067
I liked this, even if Ellen was stone faced and the guy was disinterested a lot of the time.
Anthony Bourdain did a great show on Tokyo's underbelly.

I really do wonder if you have to have a big camera and network backing to get into some of these places.

>>9108032
In ueno there's a hookah bar that sells peyote infused drinks

I'm in Tokyo right now and it's so disgustingly hot for real even if you just stand outside for 5 minutes at 7am, all your makeup will sweat off and you will feel gross for the rest of the day. I'm never coming here in the summer again.

>>9136021
I'm guessing you're not from the Southern U.S.

>>9109869
I personally reccomend Skyscanner for any and all flights

>>9136138
But you have to walk outside a lot more, and there's less air conditioning. So Tokyo is worse.

>>9135421
I'd settle for anything more Japan life on TV at this point.

>>9136282
I agree. Even though I know the more is captured about the parts of Japan I want to experience, the more choked with tourists it will be.
When I go, lolita 100% or bust.

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>>9136021
If you really hate the heat, go out during very early morning hours. I was jetlagged today and ended up walking around at 2-4am, and it was very pleasant.

The only downside is no shopping.

Once upon a time Closet Child had old Vivienne Westwood jewelry. Do they still, or did it go passe?

>>9136789
We saw some VW jewellery at CC. If I remember correctly, the Ikebukuro location also had a bunch of bags and clothes.

What's the best place to buy/brand of shampoo? The one I took is running low and I'm skeptical about using the hotel ones

>>9136942
I like Tsubaki, it smells good but maybe not great if you have greasy hair since it cleans pretty gently. Any drugstore like Matsumoto Kiyoshi or supermarket has a huge variety of shampoos. Avoid Merit and Pantene as they made my hair feel dry and nasty.

>>9136890
Bless you anonymous, I'll swing by when I'm in town.

>>9137016
I would suggest against the grocery stores, as they usually hide the shampoo away really well (either on a different floor, or in its own little nook), and just hit up the drugstore (薬屋/くすり屋/kusuri-ya). Tomod's is a good one, in addition to Kiyoshi.

Although, speaking of drugs: drugs are hella expensive there; bring your own. 100 capsule bottle of ibuprofen make great gifts! (Half-kidding there.) But: do not bring in any medication containing opiates, narcotics, ephedra-like substances, or stimulants. Even if it's OTC. Like, they'll even freak out over pseudoephedrine. And they can and will open up unsealed drug bottles.

>>9137125
That's because the modern world uses better drugs for nose decongestion, like xylomethazoline.

>>9137125
I actually brought a lot of medicine with me, and no one really checked/looked at it. I made sure it's all in boxes with the instruction sheet, so maybe it looked less suspicious.

>>9136789
>>9137052

Some closet childs have seperate buildings for the non-lolita stuff, VW is usually in the non-lolita building. So if you walk into a closet child and it's floor-to-ceiling lolita, you should definitely ask the shop staff whether they have any VW, if it's in another building they'll direct you to that.

For eg, the main CC on Takeshita Doori only carries lolita, the VW and punk brands are in a seperate building in one of the smaller side streets (iirc it's the side street with Baskin Robbins ice cream crepe).

>>9136784
Is that safe?

>>9137205
There is actually quite a lot of police patrolling. I'm in Ueno, it's not sleezy at all here.

I'm married but kinda lonely living in Japan.

I work in a job surrounded by guys who are generally about 10-15 years older than me. I'm the only real otaku here and from the past I've found it difficult to connect with other guys so it's kind of hard to make friends, especially since I married pretty young (girls usually don't want to hang around married guys). Most other westerners here just seem to stick around other westerners and their Japanese wives.

I've tried using sites like http://skypech.com/ and one girl (a few hundred miles away...) said we could meet up next month, but I always end up paranoid thinking people just have fleeting interest in me due to being white (my Japanese is fluent and I barely have any connection to my home country left).

Maybe I'm just destined to be a weirdo hermit occasionally going to hitori-karaoke or c(r)os(s)playing in my bedroom alone for the rest of my life. ;_;

>>9137160

The main CC in Takeshida dori has punk on the floor above lolita and the VW shop is the one that's on another street.

>>9137685
Where is your wife?

>>9137808
Living with me but she is not an otaku

>>9136021
I'm here too, anon and I completely agree. I wanted quite pink cheeks for my makeup yesterday so I built on a couple of layers of blush. Big mistake when I noticed the heat made the blush melt down to my mouth..

>>9136021

As a ballpark figure, how hot is too hot where you come from? Please don't exaggerate the figure, I'm not trying to show you up but it might help people who aren't sure whether or not they'd be able to handle summer in Japan.

>>9110553
Oh god, I did exactly the same thing! I went to Ank Rouge in Laforet and bought a full outfit. I decided to wear it when I went to Shibuya 109; I totally forgot they had a store there! The shopgirls were really excited, and one of them had on almost the same outfit.

My budget:
-I went to Tokyo for 10 days a couple months ago
-In total I withdrew 150,000 yen cash which included my food, hotel, and shopping. Aside from cash, I booked my flight, bought an event ticket, and rented a pocket wifi.
-I stayed at Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro and split a twin room with my boyfriend so it only costed like 45,000yen for 9 nights. Small room, but nice. I feel like if you go much cheaper than this you start sacrificing a lot of comfort for very little savings.
-I ate really cheaply; breakfasts I spent 350yen, lunch ~1000, and supper around 1500. Plus a lot of 100-300 yen snacks. It'll cost a lot more if you want to go to nice restaurants and themed cafes.
-That leaves a pretty decent shopping budget if you're not getting new lolita brand. I stuck to larme brands (lots of Shibuya 109 stuff) and Closet Child. I got 5 tops, a skirt, a cardigan, a dress, 2 purses, and a whole bunch of socks and accessories.

Random assorted tips:
-Haneda airport is closer to Tokyo than Narita, and you just take a bus from there to your hotel for like <1500 yen.
-Santa Monica crepes aren't that great; looks pretty on top, but the filling is literally just cream. Try a different crepe stand.
-My favorite secondhand lolita shop online is Usagiyouhinten, however I didn't get into their store cause it's closed Tuesday to Thursday.
-I recommend making a list of shops you want to go to and where they're located so you don't miss any. I wish I also did this with foods I wanted to try.
-Try the strawberry it's sandwich from 7-11; it's important.
-Nothing opens til like 11:00 or 12:00 so either sleep in, or if you were jet lagged like me, just go to parks while you wait for things to open; parks are great.
-Don't eat the airplane food; that shit ruined my appetite for days.
-All the fast food servers speak relevant English, but clothing shopping you're gonna have a much harder time. Say "try?" and point at the changeroom if you want to try something on; they'll understand.

>>9138383
>Don't eat the airplane food; that shit ruined my appetite for days.

What airline did you fly? I flew japan airlines and thought the food was really pretty good.

>>9138467

Probably United. My bf and I made the mistake of taking that airline. The food looked like vomit and tasted worse.

>>9138299
To be honest it doesn't really matter how hot it is where you're from, the outdoor lifestyle and light a/c in Japan is a totally different animal. In hot states in the southern US we barely feel it since we're always avoiding the heat with cars and running into cold buildings. I hardly ever sweat. But in Japan you need to walk outdoors everywhere in summer and even if you enter a building it's still too hot to stop you from sweating. The heat is really tiring and saps your vacation mojo too.

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I mean there really is no getting around this. I don't even know why I bothered bringing a sweatshirt here

>>9138515
florida weather

>>9138467
I'm curious too. I've flown both jal and ana and they have pretty decent food for airlines. The Asian airlines are always a lot better all around. I would not want to be on such a long flight with a western airline.

>>9137764

Ah. I had the impression the upstairs was gothic lolita and downstairs was sweet lolita for some reason.

Anyways, main point was ask the shop staff if you don't see a brand, could be in another building that's less obvious.

>>9138050
>>9137685

Why not join some hobbyist site and then find friends from there? Even if they don't live nearby you can still make friends and online chat (or email) over things you enjoy.

If you do luck out, when you find otakus near you it'd be easier to make a hobby-related meetup than just a blank "I'm living in Japan and lonely please chat with me" kind of meetup. (If your hobby is so weird you'd rather not be seen in public with it, you can rent a karaoke room for privacy (you don't have to sing)).

If Japanese forums are hard to find, join an international forum, it's likely to have some people living in Japan on it, though they might not be local.

>>9138865

Bottom floor is sweet and classic, middle is gothic and punk, top is otome.

>>9136789

The Shinjuku shop has VW on the fourth floor.

Fattychan here. I really want to go to Japan but I've been worried about feeling self conscious about my weight when I'm there. Would I get negative reactions or something? I don't want to feel too gross. Sorry for weird question lol

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>>9139202
There are fat people in Japan, anon. It might not be as common as Murica but they exist and there are even cute plus sized brands now like Plumprimo.

>>9139202
Japanese people are used to plump Westerners since there are a lot of them. If you're truly very big though you might get some mild nasty looks or be denied if you attempt to try on clothes.

>>9139202
Well, you'll FEEL self conscious anyway, since you already do. Realistically, if you're fat, you'll be bigger than the majority of the people around you in Japan. That's just the reality.

People won't say anything to you though, since it would be rude to do so.

>>9139202
You won't get any (outward) negative reactions but clothes shopping may be a little more difficult depending on how big you actually are. I was actually surprised at how many chubby people I saw in Japan, which is not to say that overweight people were abundant there, but it seemed like there were more on average than in Hong Kong or Taiwan.

The model in your pic is probably the heaviest I saw an overweight woman gets; the majority of "chubby" girls are far left body types (both pink and yellow) in pic with a few pounds variance in either direction. I'd say most women were about the same as the middle bodies, and the skinny ones were the same as the right bodies. If we were to assign sizes then your pic's model would probably be XXL, and the girls in my pic would be L, M, S. Hope that helps!

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>>9139377
dropped pic

>>9138467
>>9138486
>>9138830

Air Canada. So maybe let's amend that tip and say don't eat the food if you're on a western airline/actually maybe just Air Canada.

>>9139202
If you're fat in a western country you'll still be fat in Japan. Japanese people are very good at being polite so no-one is likely to say anything negative to you or even stare too much (as that would be rude as well) however you may get sideways looks on the train etc.

>>9139202
The japanese are really polite. They won't say or do anything to you.

However, if you feel self conscious, you will continue to until you actually lose the weight. In Japan or not.

>>9139202
You'll probably feel self conscious but that's all to do with your mental state, people won't actively make you feel that way. If you're not super confident it's hard to avoid comparing yourself with others, though there are more chubby people than you'd expect (especially up in Hokkaido for some reason, has anyone else noticed that? Maybe it's because of the cold?).

May as well take the chance to lose some weight, I'm using my upcoming trip as motivation to diet.

>>9139220
>>9139290
>>9139304
>>9139377
>>9139632
>>9139900
>>9139722

Thanks for the replies everyone! I think I could say I'm around the same size as that Plumprimo model in that first photo though she looks far more flattering. I don't really have plans to travel too soon so hopefully I can lose some weight by then.

>>9137154
2nding this. My friend and I were on student visas. I brought 10 months worth of allergy medicine and she brought a whole huge thing of medications. Some of hers were extra sketchy too. She mixed multiple different pills in the same bottle all of which were ADHD medication like Ridilin (can't spell it) that were prescribed to her brother. She did have medication prescribed to her for depression and for a skin condition. They didn't even check her but she only had enough for 4 months.

That being said they can and will take it away if you get caught. I was told before coming that anything over a 2 month supply could be taken away unless it was life threatening (insulin for example) and no matter what paper work was mandatory.

>>9137205
If your a gaijin people will be more afraid of you. If you're in a neighborhood not near any hotels police may stop you and ask for your residence card/passport though and ask what you're doing thete

This is probably a dumb question but can I try on clothes at Closet Child?

>>9139494
>Air Canada
Fuck that shitty airline, I will never fly with them again if I can help it. Their Toronto airport is also a fucking nightmare to layover in if your final destination is the US. I had the displeasure to fly twice with them and both times I almost missed my transfer flight with a 3 hour layover.

Agree that their food service is absolute shit. When I went, our meals were:
>Lunch
Carrot & cucumber sandwich with mayo and the crust cut off and applesauce.
>Dinner
Cup ramen
>Breakfast
"Hot Pocket" (generic)

I fly internationally a few times a year and that was hand's down the worst flight I'd ever gone on. I felt absolutely horrible by the time we landed.

>>9141186
There were change rooms at all the closet child locations I went into.

Fair warning, if you were planning to go to Kyoto, it's insanely hot (97/36) right now. The logical solution would be to sleep during the day or stay around Tokyo or further north.

>>9141186
Wow really? Air Canada code-shares with ANA, so I found their meals/service to be pretty much the same.

>>9138882
My hobbies are full of male kimoota though. That's why I'd rather make girl friends but I'm not sure how to make them now I'm married. Maybe it's an impossible ask?

>>9141186
Most if not all closet child stores let you try on. That being said thy may not let you try on items not on hangers like folded stuff but I'm not sure. They will ask you to take off your shoes and if you're wearing makeup to put essentially tissue paper (or maybe it's like the cloth ish bags AP shoes come in) on your head while trying so you don't get makeup on the items. I wouldn't wear makeup because the bags are terrible.

>>9143250
It's called a face cover, almost all Japanese stores have for you to wear so you don't get makeup or face sweat on the clothes. You wear it for all of 10 seconds to put the clothes on.

I just read something on Reddit about Airbnb started to be banned in Japan?

How much truth is in this statement?
How screwed am I for having nothing but Airbnbs booked?

>>9143337
They aren't legal because you need a license to run a hotel business there. Also most apartment rental contracts strictly forbid subleasing. But as long as the person running it doesn't get caught, it's not a problem

>>9139202
shut up

>>9138515
Better… safe than sorry? That looks disgustingly miserable, I'm sorry.